Cambridge St. Andrew the Less:Geographical and Historical information from the year 1750.

"BARNWELL, (Cambridgeshire)
near Cambridge, where in the Normans time was an abbey, so called, says Camden, from
the wells
of children or beams, because they used to meet here for sport, on St. John's eve;
so that it came at last to be, what is
now called Midsummer Fair. This village was burnt down in the year 1731; but a more
deplorable accident happened here 4
years before, viz. on the 8th of Sept. 1727, which many good families have sad cause
to remember. A multitude of people
being assembled in a barn to see a puppet shew, it was set on fire by a villain who
was denied admittance; and the
spectators crowding to the door, which was made fast, it was so long e're it was
opened, and especially as it turned
inwards, that the people tumbled over one another in getting out; and during this,
the roof fell in, by which numbers were
smothered; while the fire was burning many more: so that not above 5 or 6 escaped
out of six-score men, women and
children; among whom were several young gentlewomen of fortune, and many of the dead
were so disfigured and mangled, that
they could not be distinguished by their friends, who came next day to remove them
for interment, and therefore they were
promiscuously put into a large hole dug for the purpose in the Ch. yard."

"STURBRIDGE, (Cambridgeshire)
has a Fair Sept. 8, for a fortnight, one of the most famous in Great-Britain, though
'tis of
late somewhat lessened; 'tis kept near the little brook Sture, in a large corn-field,
extending from the r. Cam towards
the road for about half a m. square, bet. Chesterton and Cambridge, where the booths
are placed in rows, like streets, by
the names of which they are called, as Cheapside &c. and are filled with all sorts
of trades, coffee-houses, taverns,
eating-houses, musick-houses, &c. here being stage-players, whores, and a mixture
of all sorts of people, so that it does
not come up to Bury Fair for fine company, but much surpasses it for its prodigious
traffick, in cattle, and other
merchandize. Vast quantities of cheese are brought to it from Atherston Fair, and
sold here for the supply of Essex,
Suffolk and Norfolk. Abundance of cloths, by the name of kerseys, cottons, penistons,
and fustians, are brought to it from
Yorkshire and Lancashire; all sorts of tapes, cadduces, and the like wares, from
Manchester; variety of stuffs and crapes
from Norwich, and great store of serges, duroys, druggets, &c. from Exeter, Taunton,
Bristol, and other parts in the West,
and some too from, London; so that the Duddery, an area of 80 or 100 yards square,
in which the clothiers unload,
resembles Blackwell-Hall; and in the woollen goods only, besides upholsterers and
iron-mongers wares, here have been sold
to the value of 100,000 l. in a week, to which, if there be added 50 or 60,000 l.
generally laid out here, by the
manufacturers of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, in wool; besides the immense sum in
hops, the price of which all over the
Km. is generally settled at this Fair; and the large commissions for all sorts of
commerce, which are negotiated here for
all parts of England, it may be allowed one of the greatest Fairs in Europe. Yet
'tis so well regulated by the magistrates
of Cambridge, who hold a court of justice here during the Fair, that there is no
confusion nor disorder. After the
wholesale business is over, the country gentry generally flock in, and lay out a
great deal of money in toys, drolls,
puppet-shews, rope-dancing, &c. and the whole concludes with a day for the sale of
horses, and with horse and foot-races
for the diversion of the commonality. Here are sometimes 50 hackney-coaches from
London, which ply morning and night to
and from Cambridge, where the bulk of the people lodge; nay, wherries have been actually
brought hither from London on
waggons, to row people up and down the r. Cam: For during this Fair, not only Cambridge,
but all the Ts. round are full,
nay the very barns and stables are turned into inns, for the accommodation of the
meaner sort of people. 'Tis to be noted,
that if the field where the Fair is held be not cleared of the corn by a certain
day in August, the Fair-keepers may
trample it underfoot, to set up their booths; and, on the other hand, if the Fair-keepers
have not cleared this field by a
certain day in September, the ploughmen may come with plough and cart and overthrow
all into the dirt. As for the filth,
dung, straw, &c. left behind, which is very considerable, 'tis so good manure as
makes the farmer amends for the damage
done to the ground. All heavy goods are brought hither by water-carriage from London,
by way of Lynn in Norfolk, from
whence they are carried in barges up the Ouse to the Cam, and so to the Fair. In
like manner, such goods are sent to Lynn,
and there shipped for the Humber and Tine. There is a very fair causey just by this
place for about 4 m. leading to
Gogmagog-Hills, which was begun by Dr. Harvey, master of Trinity-Hall, and finished
by William Wortes, Esq; of Cambridge."